A few days before COP29 which will be held from November 11 to 22, 2024 in Baku (Azerbaijan), the media 2050NOW and its partners, the Hugo Observatory of the University of Liège and Degroof Petercam Asset Management (DPAM), have published a study which ranks rich countries according to their progress in respecting their climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement (2015). Its ranking will surprise you.
Climate: a European podium
It is Austria, which tops the 2050NOW media ranking thanks to its electricity production based more than 75% on renewable energies, a European record. Germany comes secondmanaging to offset its greenhouse gas emissions deemed “average”. Switzerland completes this podiumdisplaying a continuous, global and coherent climate commitment.
France, for its part, although it is a leader in financial support to developing countries and has nuclear energy, only rises to 9th place in the 2050NOW media ranking. It was penalized by its low score in terms of transparency regarding its reporting on its climate actions on the international scene.
Large disparities between countries
Surprising: the Nordic countries, generally seen as examples of ecological transition, do not dominate the ranking. Iceland, although first on the criterion of greenhouse gas emissions, is positioned in 7th place due to its lack of support and transparency towards developing countries. Same observation for theFinland, which excels on the “net zero” and adaptation criteria, but is penalized because of its emissions forecasts for 2030, is only 12th in the ranking.
Not surprisingly, these are the UNITED STATES which arrive last in the ranking despite all the ambitions displayed until now by the administration of Joe Biden. In summary, as indicated François Gemennedirector of the study and professor at HEC: “ Some countries are very good on certain criteria, such as adaptation or the legislative system for example, but turn out to be bad on others. » Even if there are improvements, the conclusions drawn by the media 2050NOW from the study remain no less critical, even incisive: “ Not only are the climate commitments not up to par, but they are not respected! “. In short, this study serves as a harangue against rich countries, the aim being to remind them, a few days before COP29, of the climate commitments which bind them and which they signed in 2015.
